It depends on how you're using the data you're pulling as to which is best.

Keep in mind that a DLookup only pulls the value of one field (or one concatenated field) at a time so you have to make multiple round trips to get the info for each field.

If you are building a combo box with the wizard (or SQL), you are grabbing all the data in one trip to the table. Each of those can be stored in columns in the combo without being viewable if you choose. But then when the combo box is updated, the new additional information is already in your form, you just have to copy it from the combo to other fields if necessary.

Thank you. So either way would have worked. I will stay with the lookup way.

Donald is exactly right. Both methods work, and the "best" approach depends on what you're trying to accomplish.

For beginners, I usually recommend putting the extra fields you need directly into the combo box's Row Source. That way, after the user makes a selection, the data is already there. It's easy to populate the other controls without making additional trips back to the table. It also lets you display helpful information to the user. For example, if you have two customers named Joe Smith, showing the street address or city in the combo box makes it much easier to pick the correct one.

One exception is Long Text (Memo) fields. Those can't be included in a combo box's Row Source, so if you need one of those values, you'll have to retrieve it afterward with DLookup (or another query).

As you get into more advanced databases, especially those running over a slow network or connected to SQL Server over the Internet, you'll often want to keep your combo boxes lean. In those cases, I usually bring over just the key field and one descriptive field, then retrieve anything else only if I actually need it. That reduces the amount of data traveling across the network and can improve performance.

So for a local Access database, I usually favor the combo box approach. For remote databases where performance matters, it's worth being more selective about what you bring over.

Richard
Thank you. I have a better understanding of it now.